Golf club



April 7,; 1925 1,532,545 v w. B. PEDERSEN GOLF CLUB Fil ed'Dc. 11. 1923 INVENTOR.

WA 727? 5. PfDffiSf/V ATTORNEYS Patented Apr. 7, 1925.

UNITED STATES WALTER B. PEDERSE'N, OF MOUNT VERNON, NEW YORK.

A GOLF CLUB.

Application filed December 11,1923. Serial No. 679,916.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, WALTER B. PEDERsEN, a citizen of the United States, residing at Mount Vernon, in the county of Westchester and State of New York, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Golf Clubs, of which the following is 'a full, clear, and exact description.

As is well known, the back spin shot is one of the most difficult a golfer is called upon to perform. The purpose of this shot, of course, is to prevent the ball from rolling appreciably after it strikes the ground. It is ordinarily made with a mashie or mashieniblick. The striking face of each of these clubs is obliquely arranged with respect to the shaft and when it comes in contact with the ball, with the ordinary stroke, it does so below the center of the ball and, with the follow-through, projects the ball without any noticeable twist on it. The back spin is imparted to the ball by striking it with the club.in such a way as to give the ball a rearward rotation. This is eifected by the usual iron club employed for this purpose by causing the face of the club to strike the ball above the normal point of contact, adjacent to the center of the ball, but this means that the naturalswing of the club must be altered. If this stroke be conopportunity for a follow through. So that in order to get a full stroke, with its follow through, and also to change the angle of the face of the club while it is in contact with the ball a quick wrist movement is made which turns the faceof the club rearwardly and enables the stroke to be continued and finished without digging into the ground and having its movement suddenly arrested. Every golfer knows how difiicult all this is, Very few players are able to make the back spin shot successfully It is attempted only by professionals, or by amateurs who are exceptionally expert.

The purpose of my invention is to provide a club which may, in the hands ofan ordinary golfer, be successfully employed for the back spin shot without resorting to any unnatural stroke or diflicult manipulation of the club while the shot is being performed. I accomplish this result by forming the striking face of the club of the mashie type with a convex surface so that after the face of the club strikes the ball and during the time that it remains in contact therewith, the angle of the tangent to the ball at the point of contact will gradually decrease relatively to the ground.

The details of the invention will hereinafter be described and that which I regard as new will be set forth in claims.

In the accompanying drawing:

Fig. 1 is a side elevation of the club, shown in operative position; I

Fig. 2 is a view showing the upper face of the head of the club;

gig. 3 is a side edge view of the head, an

Fig. 4 is an end view of the head.'

In the illustrated embodiment of the in vention, the shaft 1 of the club is provided at its lowerend with a head 2, having a striking face 3 set at an angle oblique to the axis of the shaft, facing upwardly, and extending transversely to the shaft. The striking face 3 is made convex forthe major portion of its area, as clearly shown, so that when the ball is engaged by the striking face, the point of contact will be higher than for a plane face, continued engagement with the ball causing the point of contact to move upwardly upon the striking face.

Since the surface is convex, the tangent to the, surface of the ball at the point of contact will decrease its inclination to the ground as the club moves forwardly and under the ball, and it has been found that this convex surface imparts to the ball a rearward rotation or back spin which will greatly curtail the forward rolling of the ball after it strikes the ground at the end of the shot. Heretofore with the plane striking face, in order to obtain a back spin, it has been necessary to employ an unnatural the usual manner of making a shot.

The outer tip end 4 of the head is preferably made plane, so as to be of visual assistanceto the player in determining the proper stroke in hitting the balland, at the time of contact with the ball, and while following angle or position in which the club should be held and swung in making a shot. The

ing face and transverse to the shaft of the club.

It will be obvious that various changes in the details herein described and illustrated for the purpose of explaining the nature of the invention, may be made by those skilled in the art within the principle and scope of the invention as expressed in the appended claims.

Claims:

1. A golf club having itsstriking face convex, set at an angle oblique to the axis of the shaft and facing upwardly.

2. A golf club having its striking face set at an angle oblique to the axis of the shaft and facing upwardly, with the major portion of the said face convex and a minor portion substantially plane, whereby the plane portion will serve as a visible reference to assist a player. in selecting the proper angle at which the club should be i. A golf club having its striking face set' at an angle oblique to the axis of the shaft and facing upwardly, the striking portion of said face being cylindrically convex with the axis of the cylinder running substantially parallel to the striking face and transversely of the shaft, the cylindrically convex surface having ribs running lengthwis'e thereof.

In witness whereof, I hereunto subscribe my signature.

WALTER B. PEDERSEN. 

